


It's a Risk

by Nekuyo



Series: Risky Business [1]
Category: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
Genre: Fem!Quark, Gen, I Blame Tumblr, There might be.... a little Siskuark, i didn't mean to, it's not nearly as suggestive as the summary makes it seem, just a little, specific users in general, you know who you are
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-08
Updated: 2017-07-08
Packaged: 2018-11-29 05:35:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,937
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11434233
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nekuyo/pseuds/Nekuyo
Summary: A look at how Ben Sisko might have convinced Quark to stay if Quark's situation had been just a little.... different.





	It's a Risk

**Author's Note:**

> Okay... I just...  
> I feel like this fic needs some explanation.... But also how do you even?  
> Just go read this tumblr post http://jazzypizzaz.tumblr.com/post/162553839865/jazzypizzaz-i-dont-usually-go-in-for and that explains like... most of it.  
> I thought I'd take that concept and just be like..... "Okay, but how about different?" and it's only just Quark.  
> Also, any implied Siskuark is accidental.

The Cardassians leaving Terok Nor had been a quick and destructive affair. One Quark hadn't been very well equipped to deal with, all things told.

The staff of Quark's had been made up of Bajoran slaves... err... miners, so the ones that had survived were immediately evacuated once the violence was over. The bar itself was a wreck, most of the furniture completely smashed. And of course anything of value in the stockroom that wasn't habitually under lock and key had been pillaged and looted.

Quark had surveyed the damage and had very strongly considered packing up and going elsewhere. It would almost be easier to resettle than it would be to clean up this mess and start from the ground up all alone. And under Federation rule?

Ferengi didn't have particularly good relations with the Federation. And for good reason, the Federation was filled with degenerate socialists whose morals and values were all over the place. You never truly knew what you were going to get when crossing paths with a hyoo-mon. Did Quark really want that kind of risk?

Well, want it or not, that seemed to be what was on the table. Sisko, the commander assigned to take over at Terok Nor -- Deep Space Nine rather -- had come into the bar as Quark was trying to find anything salvageable and insisted on an audience. Quark had tried to dissuade him, but couldn’t manage to get out of a meeting with the new head of the station.  
Not an hour later Quark was seated in the former Prefect's office above Ops.

"What can I do for you Commander?" Quark asked.

"This meeting is less about what you can do for me, Quark, and more about what I can do for you." Sisko replied.

"I'm listening." Quark said, I interest piqued.

"Quark... I can't help but notice, you seem to be the only Ferengi aboard the station. That's a bit odd, isn't it?" Sisko asked.

"Well, Terok Nor was hardly prime real estate for profit. I was simply down on my luck and searching in... unique places when I stumbled into the opportunity to open the bar."

"Yes... But any Ferengi worth their lobes would hire an all Ferengi staff once they had a business established. And yet here you are without." The commander pointed out.

"I'm not sure I like what you're implying Commander." Quark said sternly.

"Oh, I'm sure it's not what you think." Sisko assured. "I'm sure you're a most competent businessman. You’d have to be, to put up with the Cardassians, help the Bajoran rebels, at cost, right under their noses, and still turn a profit.”

“Slightly above cost.” Quark corrects quickly. “I do have a reputation to maintain.”

“Do you?” Commander Sisko asked. Quark’s eyes narrowed in suspicion.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“It means..” Sisko leaned over the desk. “That a Ferengi alone, in previously hostile space where only the more desperate of Ferengi would go searching for profit to begin with, with no back up and no connections, can only be one thing. A fugitive.”

Quark, very carefully, blinked.

“Oh?” Quark asked, voice creaking a bit. “Is that the only thing that could mean?”

“Believe it or not, I’m not completely ignorant about Ferengi culture. It’s quite important to Ferengi to form bonds with business associates. The Ferengi aren’t a solitary people, and despite the cutthroat reputation you like to spread across the quadrant, you don’t do well alone.” Sisko replied. “There are very few Ferengi who prefer to go about life on their own. And personally, you don’t strike me as one of them.”

Quark stared at Commander Sisko for a moment. Trying to assess what he really knew and what he was just speculating on. More importantly, Quark was trying to remember the extradition laws between the Federation and the Ferengi Alliance.

“Well, obviously you don’t wish to turn me in.” Quark said after a moment, with more confidence than was really there.

“You’re right.” Sisko said. “I don’t. In fact, I want to offer you asylum.”

“What?” Quark asked with a nervous laugh.

“The agreement that the Federation has with the Ferengi alliance deals only with Ferengi that have committed a crime against the Federation. It says nothing about returning Ferengi criminals. I have no obligation to turn you in, and honestly, you’re more valuable to me here.”

“You…. want me to stay?” Quark was having a hard time parsing all of this.

“Precious few shops still remain on the Promenade. And, oddly enough, according to the reports I’ve read Quark’s is thought of quite fondly. Apparently your treatment of the workers and your help to the resistance has put you in high regard.” Sisko says with a raised eyebrow.

Quark frowns and slouches in the chair a bit. 

“After such a large and difficult transition, fraught with many setbacks, it wouldn’t be unreasonable for someone such as yourself to be considering a change of location, or even a change of business all together.” Sisko goes on. “I want to make staying here and rebuilding look like the more attractive option.”

“By offering me asylum?” Quark asks. “You don’t know that I’m a criminal. And if I were you have no way of knowing what I was charged with. This seems like an awfully steep risk on your part, if you actually believe I’m a fugitive in hiding.”

Commander Sisko eyed the Ferengi sitting across from him. Quark didn’t know what he was looking for, but it seemed like after a moment he'd found it because his face relaxed into a cool smile.

“It’s a risk I’m willing to take. IF you accept my terms.” Sisko said finally.

Quark just sat there, not really knowing what to do or say. This wasn’t really the sort of offer you got every day.

“I’ll give you some time to think it over.” Commander Sisko said after a moment had passed. He got up and moved to escort Quark to the door. Quark followed “But you should consider carefully. Now that the occupation is over and the Federation has moved in, you know as well as I do that plenty of Ferengi will see the opportunity to move in and assert themselves. They always do. You might want to be prepared for that.”

“I’ll…. Take that under advisement.” Quark said with an apprehensive nod before leaving.

The contract that Quark received later that day stated the terms of the agreement plainly.

Asylum from persecution for any laws broken in the Ferengi Alliance would be granted, and enforced by, the Federation, for as long as Quark stayed on Deep Space Nine and operated the establishment known as Quark's Bar & Grill. There were no other requirements or stipulations.

Quark had still been debating the merits of the offer when the whole situation had shifted.

24 hours and a small skirmish with the Cardassians later, Deep Space Nine was no longer just an abandoned Cardassian mining station. It was the gateway to a whole new Quadrant of the galaxy. As soon as word spread the foot traffic would be insane. Tourists, merchants, even smugglers, would be chomping at the bit. And Quark's was positioned to be at the center of it all.

Well, that had settled it. Only an idiot would give up prime real estate like that. Quark signed the contract before the offer could be rescinded.

But, that left just one more thing to consider…

 

* * *

 

 

After that first talk he had had with Quark, Benjamin Sisko had pushed the issue aside. Far more pressing matter had captured his attention, and he couldn't really be bothered with wondering about the decisions of the diminutive bartender until things had calmed down. He had registered that Quark had, in fact, signed the perfunctory contract Sisko had sent along via Comm, but not before the station had moved to become the gateway to the Gamma Quadrant. Other than that, he hadn't really thought about it.

So, once the situation had stabilized, as much as it was going to anyway, and Commander Sisko had the opportunity to tour the Promenade for the first time in few days he found himself pleasantly surprised that the largest shop on the Promenade was lit up and bustling with activity. A large "Grand Re-Opening" banner displayed above the door.

"Very nice." Ben said to himself as he admired the expressions on the people going in and out.

"Thank you." Answered a familiar voice, though in a completely unfamiliar cadence.

Ben tilted his head and noticed Quark in the shop window of the bar looking.... different.

Quark was wearing a jacket that looked similar to what Sisko had seen him in previously, this one being made of some sort of red brocade fabric, but the sleeves were cut to the elbow and the collar was cut significantly wider and exposed a large portion of the chest. Under the jacket was a light yellow, low cut shirt with a complicated lace embroidered design. It had ruffled, trailing cuffs and an asymmetrical hem.

"I confess, I don't think I've ever seen a Ferengi show so much skin." Commander Sisko said as he walked up to the bar's shop window. As he got close he could tell that Quark seemed to be wearing make up, and was now sporting a gaudy, shoulder duster earring on one ear.

"If I still lived on Ferenginar I'd be wearing significantly less." Quark replied with a smirk. Quark's voice was, perhaps, just a tad higher pitched and softer than it had been in their first meeting.

"I've heard that Ferengi had no sexual dimorphism." Ben said, side stepping the innuendo. "I wasn't expecting to get a practical demonstration."

"Well, when one takes such a large gamble they're usually eager to know the outcome right away. I thought it was the least I could do." Quark answered.

It took Ben a moment to understand what that meant.

"You're wanted on Ferenginar because you're a female?" He asks.

"Who started a very lucrative business venture... and was caught." Quark clarified.

"And Ferengi women aren't allowed to earn profit." Ben said.

"Among other things." Quark agreed.

"Ferengi women also aren't allowed off planet." Ben pointed out dryly.

"If you think I have any intention of sharing some sort of harrowing back story with you, you're sorely mistaken Commander." Quark says sharply. Ben knew when to let a line of questioning go.

"Well then, answer me this instead. You've been pretending to be male for several years now at least. What made you decide to stop now?" Ben asked.

Quark looked like she was thinking very hard about how she wanted to answer that question.

"When I left Ferenginar it was a necessity, because I couldn't get off planet without pretending to be male." Quark started. "And then I found myself working in Cardassian space and I’d seen enough of how they treated women that I had no inclination to stop.”

Ben had heard more than enough stories about the sort of things Cardassians had done to Bajoran women to make his stomach turn. Quark’s decision was more than understandable.

“But now, under these circumstances… I thought it was about time to reclaim this part of myself.” Quark finished.

“A bold move, considering how many people, Ferengi included, will be coming through here any day now. And given how valuable the station’s become there’s no guarantee that the Federation will be able to keep a hold of it.” Ben warned.

The warning seemed to only amuse Quark, who chuckled a little.

“Let’s just say…. It's a risk I'm willing to take.”

**Author's Note:**

> I have no excuses. It's just.... what it is. 
> 
> I might.... MIGHT, make a series out of this. But don't count on it.


End file.
